Combined gravity and fluid-pressure sander for locomotives.



E. A. RIVES.

- COMBINED GRAVITY AND FLUID PRESSURE SANDER FOR LOCOMOTIVES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 13, 1915 1,165,024. Patented Dec. 21, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

' 22/ 40 3:; v I 1. 34 ad 37.:d\ 1674 3 x? I 42 E. A. RIVES COMBINED GRAVITY AND FLUID PRESSURE SANDER FOR LOCOMOTIVES.

ED APR 13 APPL r 1,165,024. Patented Dec.21,1915.

' 2 EEEEEEEEEEEE 2.

EDWIN A. nivn's, or ennnlvsnono, vonrn CAROLINA.

COMBINED GRAVITY AND FLUID-PRESSURE SANDER FOR LOCOMOTIVES '1 all whom itmay concern:

Be it known thatl, EDWIN A. R1vEs,.a citizen of the United States, residing at Greensboro, in the county of Guilford, and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combined Gravity and l quid-Pressure Sanders for Locomotives, of which the followingis a specification. I

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in track sanders for locomotives, the object of my invention being the provisionof a device which will supply sand to both rails of a track, the sand being fed either by gravity, or by fluid pressure,or by both, as preferred.

A further object of my invention is to so construct the device that the valve controlling the discharge of sand may be mounted exteriorly of the sand dome and thesand discharged from the dome to the valve by gravity. It will. be clear that this construction will permit the application of my improved sandei" to locomotives now in use, this being one of the primary objects of my invention. V v

A further object of my invention consists in providing means whereby the valve will insure a substantially equal supply of sand.

to both rails of the track, whether the sand is being supplied by gravity, by an air blast, or by both means.

A still further object of my invention is the provision of an oscillating valve controlling the flow of sand from the sand dome to the rails and so constructed and cmounted in its casing that its oscillatory movement need be slight, and in the provision of means for limiting such movement in such' a manner that the engineer may readily determine whether the valve is in one or theother off its positions, the valve being operable manu ally. V A. further object of my invention consists in the provision of a nozzle adapted to eX- tend at one end into the sand dome and at the opposite end into the valve to supply sand to the latter and in the introduction of means for supplying air under pressure to the nozzle intermediate its length to prevent clogglng of the sand, it moist, 1n thenozzle and also to provide means for feeding the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec.'21, 1915.

i 7 Application filed April s, i915. Serial No. 21,084..

sists in mounting the valve in. a novel manner, whereby it may bereadily operated and its amount of movement readily controlled, and furthermore in such a manner that the discharge end of the sand nozzle will serve as a bearingor support for the valve. And a still further object of my invention consists in providing the valve with two discharge ports. one of which is activewhen sand is being fed by gravity and both being active when sand is being fed by fluid pressure means. 1

With these and other objects in view, my invention will be more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and then specifically pointed out in the claims which are attached to and form a part of this application.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view, showing a sand dome and my improved sander applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a centrahvertical, longitudinal sectional view taken through my sanding device; Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line of Fig. 2; Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the valve removed from its casing; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view corresponding to F ig. 2 and illustrating a somewhat modified form of valve and valve casing construction; Fig. 6 .is a sectional view in the nature of a diagram, illustratingthe position of the valve when sand is being fed by gravity; Fig. 7 is a correspondinn vview, illustratingthe position of the valve when sand is being fed by'an air blast.

Corresponding and likepart-s are referred to in the following description and indicated in all theviews of the drawings by the same reference characters.

In Order to insure a clear and accurate understanding of my invention I have illus-' trated it in connection with a conventional form of locomotive 10 upon the boiler of which is a sand dome 11 of any usual or preferred type provided adjacent its lower end with a bottom 12 which may be integral with the dome or secured in any suitable manner. All of the above described parts are conventional in construction and any further detailed description is therefore unnecessary. 1

in installing my improved sanding device upon the locomotive, the sand dome, at a point slightly abovethe bottom 12, is provided with an opening 13, the usual opening in the bottom 12 being closed. A discharge nozzle 1-1 extends at one end inwardly and section, has its free outer end directed outwardly in a substantially horizontal plane, as shown at 17 and the passage 18-through the nozzle is enlarged or flared at such end, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, the outer surface of the free end of the nozzle being in the form of a horizon-tally disposed cylinder,

for a purpose which will be later explained.

Preferably formed integrally with the nozzle 14:, is a valve casing 19 which is generally cylindrical in shape and which is formed with its aXis in alinement with the axis of the flared end portion 17 of the nozzle 14, such end portion of the nozzle'extending axially within the casing 19. This casing is open at that end most remote from the nozzle and such end is provided with a peripheral flange 20 to receive the correspondingllange 21 formed upon a cap plate or closure 22 which is circular in shape and which is secured to the casing to close the latter by means of bolts 23 or other suitable fastening devices. As shown, this cap plate is provided with an inwardly directed, centrally thickened portion 24; which seats within the open end of the valve casing and properly centersthe cap plate in order that it may form a" bearing for the valve stem, as will belater pointed out; The lowerside of the body portion of the valve casing 19 is thickened, as shown at 25, to'p'rovide flat-- tened faces 26 disposed substantially at right angles to each other and the valvecasing is formed with threaded discharge ports 27 and 28 through the central portion of these faces and, consequently, atsubstantially right angles to each other, the inner ends of the ports or passages intersecting at the interior of the casing to provide awedgeshaped partition wall '29 between them. These ports and this partition wall are best shown in Figs. 3, 6 and 7 of the drawings.

Straight pipe sections 30 ar'ethreaded intothe ports 27 and 28 to extend toward oppo-' site sides of the boiler and are provided with couplings 31 by means of which they may beconnected with the usual sand pipes 32 leading to points adjacent the rails of the track and immediately in advance of the driving wheels.

Mountedinteriorly of the valve casing 19 is the valve proper 33 in the form of a hollow sphere provided with a circular opening 34c to receive thevdi scharge'iterminal of the I plate orclosure 22 applied to the valve casing, one end of the'valve bears against the closed end of the valve casing and the boss 35 bears against-the inner face of the cap plate to absolutely hold the valve against any longitudinal movement while leaving it free for turning movement. The valve stem 36 is j'ournal'e'd in the central portion-of the cap plate 22 which is thickened at this point, as shown at 37, to provide an elongated hearing for the stem and adj ustably secured by means of a nut 38 upon the free end of the stem is a lever by means of which the valve 33 may be oscillated. A U-sh'aped guide loop 40 has its ends embedded in or otherwise secured to the cap plate 22 and surroundstlieilever 39 to support'it and also to limitthe extent of swinging movement of the lever and, consequently, the extent of movement of the valve. Y This guide loop is so positioned and proportioned as to allow turningmovement of the valve of substan-v tially 90.f

The valve prooer 33, is pair of spaced cischarge ports 411 and 42 formed at substantially 90 from each other provided with a the valve casing between the discharge ports or passages 27 and 28 thereof, while in the opposite extreme limit of movement of the lever,rthe ports el-and will occupy the position shown in Fig, 7-, the former being at the top ofthevalve casing or diametrically opposite the partition wall 29and the latter midway betweensuch partition walland the former port 41.

Any suitable mechanism may be provided I by means of which the engineer or fireman may operate the lever 39 fromthe cab of the locomotive, One such mechanism includesa link 4?) connecting the free end of 7 the lever 39 with the laterally" directed terminal 14: of a rod 45 which extends to the cab of the locomotive and'which, by turning movement, may be caused to oscillate the lever 35'and, consequently, the valve 38.

In order to provide means for supplying air, under pressure, to the valve to feed the sand under certain conditions orto' assist a thickened portion 46 in the shape of an exterior boss and with an interiorly depending nozzle 47 which projects into the passageway 1S and toward the sand dome. The boss 46 is formed with a tapped bore 4:8 to vreceive the threaded end of an air sup ply pipe 49 and the wall of the sand nozzle 14, together with the wall of the air blast nozzle 47 is provided with a duct or passage 50 which extends longitudinally through the greater portion of the length of the nozzle 47 and which then opens outwardly through the side wall of such nozzle toward the discharge terminal 17 of the sand nozzle 14. It will, therefore, be clear that air admitted through the pipe 4-9, under pressure will be directed toward the discharge terminal 17 of the sand nozzle 1% and will, therefore, not

only serve to prevent clogging of sand in the nozzle lei, but also to force sand from the nozzle into the valve 33, and, as will be later explained, from the valve 33 to the pipe sections 30 and so to the pipes 32 and the rails of the track.

"Before describing the operation of my improved sanding device, I wish to direct attention to a somewhat modified form of valve and valve casing illustrated in Fig. 5. In this form of my device, the valve casing 19 is preferably cylindrical in shape and is provided opposite the sand discharge nozzle with a circular opening having a radially extending peripheral flange 20 adapted to receive, an angularly disposed peripheral flange 21 formed upon the cap plate 22 which closes the opening. This cap plate is secured in place by bolts23 and is exteriorly thickened centrally to pro- 'vide a boss 51 formed interiorly with a bearing 52 to receive the stud 53 ofthebase portion 5 1: ofthe sand valve 33. In this form of my invention, the sand valve 33 is somewhat smaller in proportion tothe size of the casing and its boss 35, instead of being reduced to form a valve stem is provided with a circular base portion 5i-which fits snugly within the inner portion of the open ing of the valve casing 19 and which, therefore, together with the cylindrical extension 53, serves to centralize and form a bearing for the valve 33. This base 54: is provided with an ear 55 which extends through an arcuate slot 56 formed in the cap plate or closure 22 and which is perforated to receive, one end of the link 43 when the valve is in place. It will of course be clear that the arcuate slot 56 should extend only through in order to properly limit the turning movement ofthe valve 33, due to swinging of the car 55 from one end to the other of the slot. ,With the exception of these distincwith that previously described and it is for this reason that the entire valve structure is not illustrated in Fig. 5.

In operation, the sand dome is filled in the usual manner and upon such filling, sand will flow into the valve which, under normal circumstances, occupies the position shown in Fig; 7 the sand, under these circumstances, partially filling the hollow valve 33, but not escaping through either of its discharge ports d1 or 42. If it becomes necessary to supply sand to the rails of the track,the engineer or fireman may swing the rod 46 to active position through the link 13 and lever 39 to oscillate the valve through an angle of 90 to the position shown in Fig. 6. Under these circumstances, sand will be discharged from the valve through the port l2 and, striking against the wedgeshaped partition wall 29, will be deflected equally through the discharge ports 27 and .28 of the valve casing'and, consequently, will pass in equal quantities through'the pipes 32 to the rails. Should the sand become clogged either in the valve or the sand nozzle 1%, a slight application of air through the pipe 49will serve to break it up and in. sure proper feeding of sand to the rails. In case an extreme amount of sand is re quired, theair blastmay be utilized even though the sand is not clogged and it will therefore be seen that practically any desired amount of sand may be supplied to the rails, the quantity supplied being controh lable from the cab of the locomotive.

Although I do not intend to ordinarily operate the device by fluid pressure means alone, it will of course be apparent that such may be accomplished, as with the valve in the position shown in Fig. 7 if'air is supplied under p'ressurethrough the pipe l9 it will force sand through both of the valve ports a1 and 42 and through the'space between the valve and valve casing surrounding the valve andso to the discharge ports 27 and 28 of the valve casing. Because of the high pressure of the air and the relatively contracted space between the valvev and valve casing, the sand will be supplied in practically equal quantities to both the valve casing ports 27 and 28'.

It should be noted that by positioning the air blast nozzle 47 infthe sand nozzle '18, immediately adjacent the sand dome, any clogging ofsand in the nozzle 18 is prevented-which would notbethe case if the air blast nozzle was positioned in the valve casing proper or' in the outer end of the sand nozzle 18.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that I have provided an effective form of combined gravity and fluid pressure sander, the operation'of which may be readily controlled by the engineer or fireman in his cab. V

llG

j and at substantially po'rt.

Although the device is primarily intendedto'operate by gravity, in order to avoid undue use of air from the air brake system of the train, an air blast may be employed as'a supplemental means or the device may be operated wholly by 'means of the air blast, as preferred.

The device is simple in its construction, readily assembled, eflicient in its operation and especially durable, due to the fact that little, if'any, air need be employed in its operation and all scouring of the parts therefore avoided. Furthermore, the efiiciency of thedevice, when used as a gravity sander, is far greater than that of the fluid actuated sanders, as the latter, due to the air blast, scatter the sand over the track, in effect forcing it from the rails, while with a gravity feed, the sand is applied evenly upon the treads of the rails; Y

I do not wish, however, to-be limited to the specific details of construction illu trated and described, as various minor changes may be made atany time, within the scope of the appended claims, without in the slightest degree departing from the spirit of my invention. Forinstance, the sanding device, with slight structural changes, maybe employed on street or railway cars with equally beneficial results.

Having thus described the inventiomwhat is claimed as newv is:

1., A sander including a sand discharging nozzle adapted for communicative attachment withthe sand dome of a locomotive, a valve casing carried by the discharge end of the nozzle, and an oscillatory valve mounted in the-casing with the discharge end of the nozzle extending into thevalve,

the valve casing'being formed with diverging discharge passages in its lower wallarranged to provide an intermediate partition wall and the valve being formed with a discharge port adapted, in one position of the valve, to be disposed directly above the partition wall. 1

2. A sander. including a sand dlscharging nozzle adapted for communicative attachment with the sand dome of a locomotive, a valve casing carried by the discharge end of the nozzle, and an oscillatory valve mounted in the casing with the discharge end of the nozzle: extending into the valve, the-valve'casing being. formed with diverg ing discharge passages in its: lower wall arranged to provide an intermediate partitio'n wall and the valve being formed with a discharge port adapted, in one position of the valve, to be disposed directly above the partition wall, said valve also being provided with a second discharge port disposed in the plane of the passages and first port right angles to the first 3. A sander including a sand 'discharg charge port adapted, in one position of the valve, to be disposed directly above the par-2 tition wall, said valve also being provided with a second discharge port disposed in' the plane of the passages and first port and at substantially right angles to the first port,

and means for supplying an air blast to the intermediate portion of the discharge nozzle.

a. A sander including a sand dischargmg nozzle adapted for communicatlve attachment with the sand dome of a loco-motive. a valve casin carried b the discha-r e;

end of the nozzle, and an oscillatory valve mounted in the casing with the discharge end of the nozzle extending intothevalve, the valve casing being formed with. diverg ing discharge passages in its lower Wall ar ranged to provide an intermediate'partition wall and the valve being formed with a discharge port adapted, in one position of the valve, to be disposed directly above the partition wall, said valve also-being provided with a second discharge port disposed in the plane of the passages and first port and at su istantially right angles to the first port, and means for supplying an air blast to the intermediate portion of the discharge nozzle and in the direction of the discharge terminal thereof. 7

5. A sander including a sand discharging nozzle adapted for communicative attachment to the sanddome of a locomotive, a valve casing carried by the discharge end of the nozzle and provided in its lower face with diverging discharge passages arranged to form a-rV-shaped partition wall between them, a hollow substantially spherical valve positioned in the valve casing and formed with an opening in oneside to surround the free end. of the sand nozzle and with an opening adapted, in one position of the valve, to lie directly above the partition wall,'and a valve stem extending from that side of the valve opposite the first opening valve casing being open at its opposite end,

a cap plate closing the opposite end of the.

valve casing, a hollow, substantially spherical valve mounted in the valve casing and provided with an opening to closely receive the cylindrical end of the nozzle, said valve being provided with a discharge opening extend outwardly and downwardly therefrom, a valve casing carried by the nozzle and surrounding the free end thereof, said end belng cylindrical exteriorly and such valve casing being open at its opposite end,

a cap plate closing the opposite end of'the valve casing, a hollow, substantially spherical valve mounted in the valve casing and provided with an opening to closely receive the cylindrical end of the nozzle, said valve being provided with a discharge opening and said valve casing with spaced discharge openings, and means projecting from the valve and extending through the cap plate to provide for oscillating the valve, said means including a base portion bearing against the inner face of the cap plate and having a stud seating in a recess formed in the cap plate, and an ear extending from the base through an arcuate slot in the cap plate, the slot limiting the movement of the ear and consequently of the valve.

8. A sander including a'sand discharging nozzle adapted for communicative attachment to the sand dome of a locomotive, a valve casing-mounted upon the discharge end of said nozzle and provided inits lower wall with spaced discharge ports, a hollow, substantially spherical valve mounted in the valve casing and having an opening surrounding the free end of the discharge nozzle, said valve, being provided with discharge ports in the vertical plane of the ports of the valve casing and spaced from each other substantially ninety degrees, means for oscillating the valve to bring one of its ports directly above the space between the discharge ports of the valve casing and for reversely oscillating the valve to bring such port at one side of the valve casing at the port at the upper side of the valve casing, and means for limiting the oscillation of the valve to prevent movement beyond either of these positions.

9. A sander including a sand discharging nozzle adapted for communicative attachment to the sand dome of a locomotive, a valve casing surrounding one end of the nozzle, a hollow substantially spherical valve mounted for oscillation in the valve casing and adapted, in all positions, to receive sand discharged from the nozzle, said casing being provided with spaced discharge ports, and said valve with a discharge port capable of discharging sand uniformly to the ports of the casing.

10. A sander including a sand discharging nozzle adapted for communicative attachment to the sand dome of a locomotive, a valve casing carried by the discharge end of the nozzle, a valve mounted for oscillation in the casing, said nozzle, valve casing and valve being arranged to, in one position of the valve, permit passage of sand from the nozzle through the valve and from the casing and in another position to normally cut off flow of sand from the valve, and fluid pressure means projecting into the nozzle for forcing sand from the valve to the casing in said latter position of the valve, said means being located within the nozzle at a point directly Outside of the sand dome.

11. [a ander including a sand discharging nozzle adapted for communicative attachment to the sand dome of a locomotive, a valve casing surrounding one end of the nozzle, and a hollow valve mounted for oscillation in the valve casing and formed with an opening to snugly receive the nozzle, whereby the nozzle forms a bearing for the valve,- the casing and valve being arranged to control flow of sand from the valve casing by movement of the valve to active and inactive positions.

In testimony whereof I affix my signa ture in presence of two witnesses.

EDWVIN A. RIVES.

Witnesses:

J. K. Moons, W. N. WooDsoN;

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of I'atents, Washington, D. G. 

